NorthWestern Reports Quarterly $22.8 Million

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Energy company NorthWestern Corp. reported first-quarter net income of $22.8 million on Thursday, compared to $23.5 million in the first quarter of 2008.

The net for the quarter that ended March 31 amounts to 63 cents per share, up from 59 cents a year earlier. The increase resulted mainly from a share buyback in the third quarter of 2008, NorthWestern said.

"During the first quarter of 2009, our gross margin, electric volumes and our customer counts all improved when compared with the first quarter of 2008," CEO Bob Rowe said in a statement.

Electricity and natural gas supplier NorthWestern, which does business as NorthWestern Energy, has about 656,000 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. The company is based in South Dakota, but about 70 percent of its business is in Montana.

NorthWestern said its net liquidity was about $260 million as of March 31.

At the company's annual meeting Wednesday in Butte, shareholders' approved establishing a plan that will allow employees to buy shares of NorthWestern common stock at a discount. The number of common shares available for purchase will be 500,000.

Shares of NorthWestern were down 14 cents to $20.54 at midmorning Thursday.